Search and display apparatus

ABSTRACT

A search and display apparatus is formed compact in size and light in weight compared with the one heretofore. A display means, a bulk storage means and a key signal entering means are housed in a display operating unit which is provided a separate case from the driving unit  11  for reproducing the data stored in a disc storage medium, and when the two are connected to each other, the reproducing data read from the driving unit are transferred to the display operating unit, and is sequentially stored into the bulk storage means. And when carrying it around, the display operating unit is to be disconnected, and the reproduced data stored in the bulk storage means are displayed on the display means based on the operation of the key signal entering means. Therefore, the necessary data can be freely searched without carrying the thick and heavy driving unit, thus the convenience for use can be enhanced.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a search and displaying apparatus, and is applicable to such as a portable search and display apparatus, which reads the data corresponding to the search terms entered by the user from a disc storage medium and displays them.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Heretofore, there has been proposed a portable search and display apparatus, in which enormous characters and image informations of a word dictionary or an English-Japanese dictionary are stored in a disc storage medium as digital data, and data designated by user are searched, in a short time to display the data on a liquid crystal display.

[0003] Usually, such a search and display apparatus is composed of the main unit for reproducing the data stored in a so-called CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) and the display unit for displaying the reproduced data. The display unit is rotatably supported to the main unit.

[0004] The conventional apparatus constructed thus comprises within a case a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU (Central Processing Unit)) controlling the processing for each unit, a reproducing unit, a data processing circuit and a display controller. The CPU controls the reproducing unit, the data processing circuit, the display controller and the liquid crystal display, so that the searched data read from the CD-ROM are displayed on the liquid crystal display, via the reproducing unit, the data processing unit, and the display controller.

[0005] In such a main unit, the whole size and weight thereof has been determined practically based on the size of the disc drive and the disc cartridge holding mechanism in the reproducing block, and the weight of the disc drive motor for rotatably driving the CD-ROM and the optical system for searching data. The thickness of the disc drive can not be made smaller than 20 [mm], considering the thickness of the disc cartridge for carrying the CD-ROM, the thickness of the holder for holding the disc cartridge and the thickness of the disc drive motor. With consideration of the other required components also, the miniaturization of the main unit is limited. Thereby it was inconvenient to carry it whenever.

[0006] Further, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,725, there is shown a technology that an output of CD-ROM reproducing apparatus controlled by means of a desk top computer is transmitted to an electronic book comprising a liquid crystal display using an IR transmitter. In this case, the CD-ROM drive is controlled by means of the desk top computer, and microprocessors as control device are required to be provided both in the desk top computer and in the electronic book.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide a portable search and display apparatus being smaller in size and lighter in weight than the conventional one and convenient to carry around.

[0008] The foregoing object and other objects of the invention have been achieved by the provision of the search and display apparatus comprises; disc drive block having reproducing means for reproducing the recorded data stored in the disc storage medium; a display and control block made as a separate case easy removable from the disc drive block, on which a display means, a semiconductor bulk storage means and a key signal input means; wherein the display and control block, while it is connected to the disc drive block, sequentially stores the reproducing data read from the reproducing block into the semiconductor storage means; and the display and control block, while it is disconnected from the disc drive block, displays the reproducing data stored into the semiconductor bulk storage means on the display means, based on the operation of the key signal input means.

[0009] The disc drive block and the display and control block are in separate cases easy removable. While the display and control block is connected to the disc drive block, the disc drive block sequentially transmits the reproduced data read from the reproducing block to the semiconductor bulk storage means and stores the same, and while the display and control block is disconnected from the disc drive block, the reproducing data stored into the semiconductor bulk storage means based on the operation of the key signal input means are displayed on the display means. Thereby, if it is necessary to carry it around, only the compact display and control block may be carried around, thus convenience for use can be improved. According to the present invention, the display and control block which comprises display means, semiconductor bulk storage means, and key signal input means is made as a separate case easy removable from the disc drive block reproducing the recording data from a disc storage medium, and while the display and control block is connected to the disc drive block, the reproduced data read from the side of the disc drive block is sequentially transmitted to the display and control block and displayed thereon. Thereby, when carrying around, the display and control block is disconnected from the disc drive block, and the reproduced data stored in the semiconductor bulk storage means is displayed on the display means according to the search condition inputted by the key signal inputting means, so that the necessary data can be freely searched without carrying the thick and heavy disc drive block, thus convenience for use can be enhanced.

[0010] The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In the accompanying drawings:

[0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the search and display apparatus in the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a schematic plane view showing an embodiment of the display panel unit; and

[0014]FIG. 3 is a schematic plane view showing the other embodiment of the display panel unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0016] In FIG. 1, a reference numeral 10 generally designates a disc reproducing apparatus. The disc reproducing apparatus 10 is composed of a main unit 11 having a driving system of CD-ROM 2 and a data processing circuit system, and a display panel unit 12 including the other control circuit systems.

[0017] That is, the main unit 11 comprises a motor driving circuit 13 for rotatably driving the CD-ROM 2 in either constant linear velocity (CLV) or constant angular velocity (CAV), an optical pick-up block 14 for reproducing the stored data from the CD-ROM 2, the control circuit 15 for controlling to become in the normal conditions by detecting rotation error, tracking error and focussing error of the motor driving circuit 13 and the pick-up block 14, a data processing circuit 16 for data processing and transmitting the reproduced data through a connector 11A, and a power supply unit 17.

[0018] In this connection, the power supply unit 17 supplies DC voltage, which is obtained by converting AC current from the power terminal 11B, to each unit of the main unit 11, and charges the battery 20 of the display panel unit 12 via the connector 11A.

[0019] The display panel unit 12 is composed of a separate case easy removable from the main unit 11, which can be easily connected to and disconnected from the female connector 11A (not shown) of the main unit 11 by means of the male connector 12A provided on the lower part, so that while the main unit 11 is connected to the display panel unit 12, the data and the control signals are transmitted through these connectors 11A and 12A (FIG. 2) from the main unit 11 to the display panel unit 12.

[0020] At the back side of the liquid crystal display 21 of the display panel unit 12, a semiconductor bulk storage 22 of RAM (random access memory) for storing the data, a ROM (read only memory) 23 for storing the control program and search program, and a RAM 24 to be used for displaying the picture and for executing various computations are arranged. In addition, the display controller 25 for displaying the reproduced data on the liquid crystal display 21 and the CPU 26 are arranged. 4

[0021] On the front surface of the liquid crystal display 21, there is provided a touch panel unit 27 of transparent electrodes, based on the key operation to the touch panel unit 27, the CPU 26 controls each processing circuit of the main unit 11 and the display panel unit 12.

[0022] In the above construction, if it is unnecessary to carry the disc reproducing apparatus 10, the user uses and connects the connector 12A of the display panel m unit 12 to the connector 11A of the main unit 11. In this state, the CPU 26 sequentially reads from the CD-ROM 2 the data which corresponds to the search condition entered by the touch panel unit 27 using the search program stored in the ROM 23, and the read out data are displayed on the liquid crystal display 21.

[0023] On the other hand, if it is necessary to carry around the disc reproducing apparatus 10, the user operates it to read the data stored in the CD-ROM 2 as much as possible, so as to store the data in the data RAM 22, and to charged the battery 20 by the power supply 17. After the completion of the storing and charging, the user disconnects the display panel unit 12 from the main unit 11 to carry along only the display panel unit 12.

[0024] Here, if the user enters the search condition using the touch panel unit 27, the CPU 26 searches the data corresponding to the search condition from the data RAM 22 using the program stored in the ROM 23, and the searched result is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21 via the display controller 25.

[0025] In this case, the data search operation of the CPU 26 is executed as a read operation of the data RAM 22, therefore there is unnecessary to access the CD-ROM 2 each time, thus the access time is drastically reduced.

[0026] It is especially effective in the case where the data desired to display are discontinuous and there must frequently search for the data corresponding to the search condition.

[0027] Further, since only the display panel unit 12 can be disconnected and carried around, it is easier to carry around compared with in case where carrying the display panel unit 12 integratedly connected to the main unit being thick and heavy. In addition, it is unnecessary to drive the mechanism units, such as the motor, thereby the power consumption is very low, thus it can be used for a long time in carrying.

[0028] With the above construction, there mounts a data RAM 22 into which all of the data stored in the CD-ROM 2 can be written on the display panel unit 12. The liquid crystal display 21, the ROM 23, the RAM 24, the display controller 25 and the CPU 26 are mounted in the display panel unit 12 as a separated portions excepting to driving portions to be necessary in for the reproduction of the CD-ROM 2, so that when carrying, only the display panel unit 12 which is compact in size and light in weight needs to be carried, therefore the convenience for use can be enhanced.

[0029] Note that, in the embodiment discussed above, the case where the display panel unit 12 is constructed as shown in FIG. 2 and the operation key of the CPU 26 is formed as a touch panel unit 27 on the liquid crystal display 21 in layers, however this invention is not limited to this. The CPU 26 may be operated by a cursor key 30 and a decision key 31 provided on the side of the liquid crystal display 21 as shown in FIG. 3.

[0030] Further, in the embodiment discussed above, the main unit 11 can be connected to the display panel unit 12 by the connectors 11A and 12A, however this invention is not limited to this. It is widely applicable to a case where connecting them by other connecting means, such as a connecting cable, making connect and disconnect easy.

[0031] While there has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A search and display apparatus, comprising: a disc drive block including disc drive means for reproducing data from a CD-ROM disc, and being housed in a first housing; and a display and control block; including memory means for storing said data of the CD-ROM reproduced by said disc drive means, display means coupled to said memory means for selectively displaying said data stored in said memory means, control means coupled to said memory means and said display means for controlling operations of said memory means and said display means, and input means coupled to said control means for entering at least a control command to said control means; wherein said memory means, said display means, said control means and said input means are housed in a second housing; and said disc drive block, said display and control block are able to electrically coupled to each other, and when coupled, the operations of said disc drive means housed in said first housing is controlled by said control means housed in the second housing.
 2. A search and display apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein; said second housing further includes battery means for supplying an operation power to said memory means, said display means, said control means and said input means.
 3. A search and display apparatus as set forth in claim 2 , wherein; said display and control block further includes second memory means which stores control programs for controlling the operations of said disc drive means housed in said second housing.
 4. A search and display apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein; said control programs stored in said second memory means are also used for controlling the operations of said display means, said first appeared memory means and said input means.
 5. A search and display apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein; said battery means in the second housing is a rechargeable battery, and said disc drive block further includes a power source, and when said disc drive block and said display and control block are electrically coupled to each other, said rechargeable battery in said second housing is charged by said power source housed in said first housing.
 6. A search and display apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein; said input means of the display and control block at least includes cursor key means and decision key means for searching and displaying a desired portion of the data stored in said memory means.
 7. A search and display apparatus as claimed in claimed 4, wherein; said input means of the display and control bock is a touch panel formed on said display means and said control command is supplied to said control means through said touch panel.
 8. A search and display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein; said memory means is a semiconductor random access memory having enough memory capacity for memorizing the data reproduced from said CD-ROM disc. 